Rachmaninov on the future of broadcasting (1931)

I always think of Rachmaninov as a composer from "the olden days". I was really excited when I discovered there were recordings of him playing his own compositions. Just imagine if we had recordings of Bach or Mozart playing their stuff. Having their written music is one thing (and a precious thing at that), but having recordings would be so much more…

I'm much more interested in his comments on recording than on broadcasting. I love old recordings: Rachmaninov, Fritz Kreisler, Eugene Ysaÿe, all excite me to hear. But the part that really fascinates me is to see my daughters listening with enjoyment and understanding to a recording of someone who was born 180 years before them. I'm often not a fan of the effects technology has on our lives, but that's a real joy.

As fascinating as it sounds to listen to recordings by the composers themselves, I fear these “authoritative” renditions would deprive performers the room for interpretations.

It doesn't sound like he's talking about the "future" of broadcasting but the present; specifically, that broadcast music in 1931 is worthless because the reproduction quality is too poor. He doesn't say anything specific about the future of broadcasting, but he seems fine with the idea of music reproduction in general, so we can only assume that he would be happier with broadcast music of a higher quality.